Bhavesh Patel, one of the two men who was serving a life imprisonment sentence for his alleged involvement in the 2007 Ajmer Dargah blast case, returned to his home in Bharuch, Gujarat two days ago. His return was nothing short of a grand spectacle as Patel was welcomed by a large crowd of people which included office bearers from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), reported The Indian Express.

Bhavesh Patel received a grand welcome

Bhavesh Patel (40) from Bharuch and Devendra Gupta (42) of Ajmer were granted bail by the Rajasthan High Court on August 30 after their lawyers argued that they were convicted on the basis of circumstantial evidence, reported the daily. After being convicted by the CBI special court in March 2017, both men were serving life sentences. Patel, who was clad in saffron clothes and called himself Swami Muktananda, went in a procession from Swaminarayan temple in Dandiyabazaar to his house in Hathikhana.

Patel’s welcome party stood out as people carried him on their shoulders while rose petals were showered on him. Moreover, firecrackers were burst and a DJ was called-in for the celebration as well. His welcome procession included people like Surbhiben Tamakuwala of BJP, president of Bharuch municipality, councillor Marutisinh Atodariya along with VHP’s Viral Desai and local RSS members among others. He was also accompanied by his brother, Hitesh who had gone to Jaipur to complete the bail procedure.

While Surbhiben Tamakuwala told the daily that he had merely received a message in a WhatsApp group and didn’t know Patel personally, the councillor said that he has known Patel since his childhood and that he came to felicitate Patel after knowing that he had become a Swami while in jail.

The Ajmer Dargah blast case

The Ajmer Dargah blast occurred on October 11, 2007, just before celebrating ‘Iftar’ at the shrine. The blast in the 13th-century dargah of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti left three people dead and at least 17 injured. The bomb was reportedly planted inside a tiffin box. A special court found three people – Sunil Joshi, Devendra Gupta and Patel guilty in the case and sentenced them to life imprisonment in 2017. Gupta and Patel, who are former members of RSS were arrested in 2010.